Collared in the Hood

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My Birdbrain Favorite Cousin pinged me a few weeks ago, asking me to take her back to Neighborhood for the so-called "Peter menu".  Knowing that Mr. and Mrs. Birdiegolf also enjoy taking in the "Peter menu" at certain places in town, I figured I should rope them in for this dinner.  After all, I haven't been to my favorite restaurant in a couple of months, and certainly not since the white truffle season started...

Veal tartare / Burrata / hazelnut - Mr. Birdiegolf would have preferred beef over veal, but this was what we got.  And those shaved slices of white truffle certainly didn't hurt...  Very nice.

Days of numbing tongue: Sichuan feast

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Our day started at Kuanzhai Xiangzi Alleys (宽窄巷子), yet another historic touristy area of Chengdu.  After strolling around, exploring and learning a little something about the history of the area - including yet another Starbucks located in an old building - we went in search of something very local to eat...

Wumei Zhuji Intestine Noodles (五妹朱记肥肠粉) sells, you guessed it... bowls of noodles with pig intestines.  The main draw is this huge bowl of pig offal, with a separate bowl of pig intestines which have already been chopped up.

Days of numbing tongue: hot pot experience

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I'm in Chengdu for a couple of days for a work trip, and I'm getting to see the city for the first time.  While it's interesting for me to experience some authentic Chengdu-style Sichuan cuisine, I am a little bummed that I won't get the chance to hit a couple of restaurants that come highly recommended by foodie friends.

To show us - more specifically, me - some local sights, we went to a branch of Da Miao Hot Pot (大妙 火锅) located inside the historic and touristy area of Jinli (锦里).  I guess hot pot is a must when one is in Chengdu...

Knowing a few of us can't handle the heat, we did the traditional double-flavored pot (鸳鸯锅). I mostly stuck to the non-spicy soup base, although I did enjoy dipping some of the ingredients into the mala (麻辣) side.

A classic Bordelais evening

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About two hours after landing in Hong Kong, I found myself back at the Grill Room of the Hong Kong Country Club... ready for another blind tasting with the MNSC boys.  After a weekend of dining in Singapore, I really couldn't care less about the food tonight.  Hell, I came for the wines!

The amuse bouche was crab meat and celeriac.

The sweetbreads were very milky, while the pickled fungus was crunchy and acidic.  There were some blue cheese flavors there somewhere...

3-star trip to Singapore: 3 stars too many

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We were meeting one of The Dining Austrian's old friends for dinner, but only after a few drinks first.  The last time I went to Que Pasa was probably around the year 2000, so it was nice to see that after all these years, the place was still thriving. After a quick round of cocktails - which turned out to be a more modified, more masculine Cosmopolitan - our host ordered a bottle of wine.

2014 Réserve de la Comtesse - ripe fruit, lots of dried herbs in the first whiff, then turned smoky and minty.

We moved on to dinner at Les Amis.  I haven't stepped foot in this restaurant for almost 20 years, and I also haven't tasted Sebastien Lepinoy's cuisine since just before Cépage closed 6 years ago.  Frankly, I haven't had much desire to come here.  I'm sure the cuisine is fine, but just from looking at all the pictures posted online, it just seems that the dishes and the plating still look like they belong at Robuchon.

But I'm playing the role of wingman, so here I was... hoping for surprises on the upside.  I couldn't have been more wrong.

We started with a little bubbly, and I chose a glass from a familiar name...